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REVIEW: Lars Von Trier's ANTICHRIST

Written by Chris Alexander
Sunday, 30 August 2009 05:03
To be a parent is to experience primal joy. To be a parent is also to be cast into a flaming pit of paranoia, anxiety and gnawing fear. Nature has designed us to protect and love our offspring, to cradle and nurture them, to adore them and keep them from harm. It is because of this instinctual wiring that we, as parents, do in fact live in constant horror. We wonder, what if illness claimed them? What if some sickening sidebar of humanity parlayed their repellent egocentric dark side into taking them away from us? And if anything ever did happen to them…selfishly, we ask….how in God’s good name would WE cope with it? Danish master of manipulation and melodrama Lars Von Trier understands where true dread, where real horror lurks and it’s firmly ensconced within the cavernous, often uncharted recesses of the human mind. Von Trier is one of my favorite filmmakers. BREAKING THE WAVES and DANCER IN THE DARK are gorgeous, dark, personal and confrontational works that defy easy analysis. Even DOGVILLE – which I despised – is admittedly brilliant, bold and defiant filmmaking. But although Von Trier has incorporated shock, violence and horror into his work previously, he has never made a true horror film. That is, until now. Perhaps you’ve read a little sumpin’ sumpin’ about his latest film, ANTICHRIST. The picture played at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year to typically divisive audiences – people either loved it or hated it, got it or rejected it. But the thing is, when they hated it, the REALLY fucking hated it. And brother/sister, I get why, ANTICHRIST is the darkest, most upsetting, gut wrenching, draining and maddening psychosexual horror movie ever made. From its opening frames it dares its audience to slip into its rabbit hole of despair and, if you follow, rewards said audience with some of the most assaultive, unpleasant, squirming and shocking imagery ever seen on screen in a film with major actors and major directorial pedigree. But shock and awe aren’t the chief reasons why ANTICHRIST is so disarming, so effectively disturbing and impossible to shake off. Like the best of Polanski or Lynch, Von Trier finds his true terrors behind the eyes of everyday, average people. He mines his horror from sex, from love, from the most sacred of all social tropes…motherhood. The film stars earthy, sexy Charlotte Gainsbourg ( daughter of legendary French cult icon Serge Gainsbourg and sexy, 60’s UK sex kitten Jane Birkin and who’s trippy breathy album 555 is one of my all time favorite discs) as a woman driven to madness by the accidental death of her sweet, angelic faced toddler son, a sequence that slowly, painfully, operatically plays out in the film’s elegant and erotic opening and is incredibly difficult to endure. Her battered but not broken therapist husband ( the great Willem Dafoe) takes her into their woodland sanctuary – allegorically and obviously called “Eden” – for grief treatment both serious and sexual and almost immediately things begin to unravel…and unravel…and unravel…and unravel. Gainsbourg cries. She collapses. She improves. She becomes violent. She becomes almost animalistic in her sexuality and then, she goes mad. It seems that previous summer she had ventured into Eden alone, with her son, to finish her thesis on the abuse of women during the Salem witchhunts and now, in her increasingly deluded and grief torn state of mind, she begins believing that woman are wicked and somehow nature itself is female and thus evil. And that she therefore is evil. Meanwhile her ever rational – almost arrogantly rational – husband starts hallucinating imagery of deers with dead babies attached to them, of talking foxes eating their own guts, of birds being consumed by legions of ants…all the while, acorns pelt the roof of their cabin and thick mists begin to swirl around them. This movie ripped me apart, it really did. It challenged me, it sometimes bored me, it invigorated my sense, it battered me senseless, it turned me on, it repulsed me, it drove me almost as mad as Gainsbourg gets and I’m not even sure I fully understand it. Is she driven by guilt over he baby’s death to madness? Is she in fact evil? Is nature a lethal force, a bitch goddess that nurtures and kills with the same hand? Does the death of a child irrevocably destroy a mother’s humanity? ANTICHRIST is so dense with allegory, so rich with symbols, with Nietzsche-esque philosophy and with absolutely revolting violence that one viewing is hopeless…I must, must MUST see this film again. But I have to psyche myself up first because this is the hardest pill to swallow. I’m a dad twice over, you know this and if you too are a parent, this will have that extra sting of deep, spine rattling upset that you, as a serious horror film lover, crave. Stylistically, ANTICHRIST is dynamic. Von Trier’s patented rough “Dogme” approach of hyper realistic imagery clashes with his equally trademark glossy interludes to disorienting effect. Low rumbles on the soundtrack turn even the most benign of images into towering monoliths of dread while gentle Handel opera soothes the most shocking and devastating scenes into something gorgeous. Gainsbourg and Dafoe have violent, XXX rated sex (including full penetration), she masturbates frantically and explicitly in the woods, beautiful children smash onto the snow covered pavement, genitals are pounded, blood spurts from erect, stimulated penises, clitorises are mutilated, legs are drilled. Viscerally, ANTICHRIST makes CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST look like MR. ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD. As I mentioned, this is absolutely a landmark work of serious horror cinema, as beautiful as it is repellent. It’s the bastard offspring of REPULSION, ERASERHEAD and DON’T LOOK NOW and it my actually have become my favorite film, I’m not sure yet, I need another look. But its impact on me is unbelievably profound.It's art-house exploitation of the highest order. And please, if after reading this rant, you too wish to look at Von Trier’s screaming chasm of sad, sick cinema…well, friend, you’ve been warned on every level. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Read More Hits: 217
Last Updated on Sunday, 30 August 2009 05:07

Metro News Feature: ROGER CORMAN

Written by Chris Alexander
Friday, 28 August 2009 13:49
CHRIS ALEXANDER FOR METRO CANADA August 28, 2009 2:13 a.m. Back in the mid-’50s, when the drive-in movie was barely a glint in the mainstreams’ eye, a pioneer of cinema forged a blazing trail across America and the world. His name was — and still is — Roger Corman, an engineering student turned B-movie master who saw a hole in the burgeoning teenage market for lower end, rougher movies that could be made quickly, cheaply and effectively. Starting with his production of Wyott Ordung’s ludicrous tropical shocker Monster From the Ocean Floor in 1954, Corman unleashed a decade spanning torrent of B-movie gems that mined every exploitable genre, from racing drama (1955’s original Fast and the Furious), science fiction (1957’s Attack of the Crab Monsters), literate-minded horror (1960’s House of Usher) and wild action (1975’s satirical Death Race 2000). Today, still spry at 83, the producer, director and studio mogul is as prolific as ever. Under the banner of his studio New Horizons Pictures, Corman still enforces his mandate to create lower end, commercially viable films that don’t insult audience intelligence. “I’ve always thought that film, being a visual medium, is by its definition an artform,” says Corman, who, in his over half century in the business, only lost money once (1962’s William Shatner starring racial drama The Intruder). “But film is also the most expensive artform. I have always tried to be as efficient as possible with my work while also bringing a certain level of artistic integrity.” Corman is perhaps most revered for nurturing and mentoring some of film history’s heaviest hitting talent, giving starts to the likes of Francis Ford Coppola (1963’s Dementia 13), Ron Howard (1977’s Grand Theft Auto), Jack Nicholson (1961’s original Little Shop of Horrors), Martin Scorsese (1972’s Boxcar Bertha) and James Cameron (1981’s Piranha 2). For these future masters, working their way up the ranks in Corman’s kingdom was better than film school. “I am still very friendly with all of them,” says Corman of his high-profile Hollywood disciples. “I’m very proud of what they’ve accomplished, especially Jim (Cameron), who always showed dedication and professionalism along with creative vision. Today, I still get short films, student films and demo reels sent to my office and if I like the work, we give them a chance. I’m still very interested in promoting young talent.” Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Read More Hits: 196

INTERVIEW: BRUCE CAMPBELL

Written by Chris Alexander
Friday, 28 August 2009 13:04
Fans of ultra-cult actor Bruce Campbell (EVIL DEAD, ARMY OF DARKNESS, BRISCO COUNTY JR., dozens of others) take note of my recent interview with the man. We chatted about his legacy, Sam Raimi's DRAG ME TO HELL, the EVIL DEAD films, fan conventions and tatooed penises. Click below and enjoy.... Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Read More Hits: 175

Concert Review: KISS Live at Casino Rama

Written by Chris Alexander
Saturday, 25 July 2009 15:02
I had the brilliant opportunity to see my favorite band of all time - KISS - live at Casino Rama in Orillia, Ontario recently. Click below for my review of the show at Fangoria.com and to see exclusive video from the photo pit... www.fangoria.com/blogs/chris-alexander/3369-bsb-concert-review-kiss-at-casino-rama.html And click on the link below to read my exclusive interview with guitarist Tommy Thayer in METRO: www.metronews.ca/toronto/entertainment/article/264788--legendary-hard-rockers-kiss-bring-energetic-live-show-to-casino-rama And finally, check out this exclusive video I took from the pit..."Deuce": Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Read More Hits: 504
Last Updated on Sunday, 23 August 2009 04:56

Interview with Three's Company star Joyce DeWitt - Toronto Star, July 12th, 2009

Written by Chris Alexander
Monday, 13 July 2009 16:48
INTERVIEW JOYCE DEWITT TheStar.com \| entertainment \| Opportunity knocks for Dewitt Opportunity Knocks for Dewitt Three's Company star has brush with the law – on eve of her planned return to showbiz Jul 12, 2009 04:30 AM Chris Alexander Special to the Star Never trust the Internet. According to various online sources, Joyce DeWitt, leggy, raven-haired starlet of juggernaut '70s sitcom Three's Company, spent her pre-Hollywood years as a contractor who, after painting the garage of Barney Miller co-star Abe Vigoda, became a sort of surrogate daughter to the actor. "It's totally untrue. I've never even met Abe Vigoda," says the actress, on the line from her home in Santa Fe, N.M. "I never painted his house, his garage or any other thing he has. I often wonder if he thinks I'm this crazy person who made all of this up." This and other Wikipedia-tainted rumours (for the record, she never dated Roots star LeVar Burton, nor is she the niece of TV actress Fay DeWitt) are part of a larger mystery surrounding the long-M.I.A. DeWitt who, after serving time as one of the disco generation's top TV female role models, virtually disappeared from the spotlight, only to resurface recently as the subject of fresh, far less glamorous online attention. Last week, news items began circulating on gossip websites about her July 4 impaired dirving arrest, accompanied by a less-than-flattering mugshot featuring the actress looking wild-eyed, teary and dishevelled. According to her publicist, she was released on her own recognizance. No bail was set, although some websites reported that it was set at $5,000. DeWitt declined to comment on the incident. But when she sat down for an interview mere days before her arrest, she was charming, composed and willing to talk about her post-TV life and slow return to acting after a self-imposed exile. She'll be in Calgary next month starring in the Stage West production of the comedy Married Alive!. She also has a part in an indie movie called Failing Better Now that is making the rounds on the film festival circuit. From 1977 to 1984, DeWitt – along with Suzanne Sommers and the late John Ritter – made up the cast of the saucy, screwball ABC show whose influence on pop culture still resonates today (it has never been out of syndication and is a top DVD seller). And with the recent sting of losing decade-defining beauty Farrah Fawcett to cancer, it seems as though that era has truly met its end. De Witt once shared air time on the same network as the iconic Charlie's Angels sex symbol, and she remembers the late actress fondly. "She had a beautiful heart," says DeWitt of Fawcett. "She was a lovely human being and such a brave woman, right up to her final moments. She chose to share her circumstances, her illness, with the world in order that those who had similar circumstances would be enlightened and inspired, and I have a great deal of respect for the way she left this life." Three's Company featured DeWitt as the sensible, sexy Janet Wood, who along with her roommates – buxom ditzy blond Chrissy (Sommers) and loveably klutzy chef Jack (Ritter) – live, laugh and (platonically) love in a small Santa Monica apartment. The series traded on sexual stereotypes (Jack had to play gay in front of his landlord in order to stay living with the girls) and racy double entendres that, at the time, caused many a mainstream TV critic to recoil. But its fans consider the show a first-rate sophisticated ensemble comedy. "All we were trying to do is make America sit down and laugh their butt off," DeWitt says. "Or, as John would say, laugh so hard that they fall off the couch. "You loved these characters, you wanted to spend time with them, to see what they'd do next. "I mean, sitcoms shouldn't be doing Saturday Night Live. You can't just do bit after bit after bit. You have to string it together with tight writing and performances. Hollywood seems to have forgotten how to do this." The much-publicized behind-the-scenes drama of Three's Company centred squarely on Sommers and her quest for Fawcett-esque fame as a small screen pin-up queen. This led to an uncomfortable and bitter exit (she was replaced by Jenilee Harrison and, later, Priscilla Barnes). Adding to the glut of misinformation circling about DeWitt is ample ink about an equally well-publicized battle that still stands between her and Sommers. That rumour is another misrepresentation, she says. "I rarely talk about this, but we never actually had an argument. After her fight with the producers, as part of her publicity tour to make herself seem innocent, she made John and I the enemy." DeWitt says she has tried in vain to heal the breach. "Several times over the past 20 years I've left messages, notes, letters, and have given her the phone number for the phone that rings right beside my bed, but she has never chosen to reach me, and, yet, publicly and in the press, she still tells people that I don't speak to her." When in 1984 Three's Company finally answered the last knock on its door, DeWitt – who was a veteran in theatre before accidentally ending up in Hollywood – chose to travel the world and pursue a life of spiritual enlightenment. "I really felt that Three's Company was a gift," she says. "When it ended, I had money in the bank and had the luxury to pursue a life that meant something, to learn and discover. Hollywood can be brutal, inhuman, the opposite of what the theatre is and I had little desire to be part of it. But now, I'm excited to work again and to, at my age, be able to keep working." Truman Capote once wrote that life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act. With any luck, DeWitt's recent troubles and public embarrassment won't become the defining denouement of her career. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites Read More Hits: 811
Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:02

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